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Saturday, April 04, 2009

$100K earners double - Brantford Expositor - Ontario, CA

This is ridiculous -have your services increased by a 100% -another first for Brantord on the negative side of the performance sheet- lets do something about it- to be continued" PR

Brantford blew past the provincial increase in the $100,000 Club by doubling the number of names on the list of well-paid public servants.$100,000 club:Check out the complete local list onPage A7This year's list of 53,572 names, culled from ministries, municipalities and provincially funded organizations across the province, is up 28% from the previous year

But, in Brantford, the number leapt to 298 names from 146 -- a 104% increase.

As usual, the man in charge of the emergency room at the Brantford General Hospital was the top earner on the city's list.Dr. Gene Jarrell drew $404,309 in 2008. He was joined by other emergency room physicians Dr. Eric Irvine at $284,022, Dr. Anna Jocic at $260,882, Dr. Andrea Unger at $181,269 and Dr. Brian Colborne at $147,302.Five registered nurses made the list this year, while retiring hospital president and CEO Rick Woodcock made $223,040 and his vice-president, Joseph Buller, drew a $181,959 salary."With nurses moving onto the list, that's definitely a change, but they're on pay grids and as you move along with experience you increase your remuneration," said BGH spokesman Gary Chalk.For hospital managers, Chalk noted that responsibilities have dramatically increased over the last five years."A 40-hour work week is nonexistent and managers don't get overtime," he said. "We often find it almost impossible to use vacation time before you lose it from year to year and we're dealing with issues that are certainly significant."Top-earner Jarrell is more than welcome to his salary, said Chalk, since he all but lives in the hospital's emergency department.

"When I'm on my deathbed, give me Gene Jarrell," said Chalk. "Many times he's responsible for 30 patients all at the same time and he takes that responsibility seriously. Combine that responsibility with his long hours and you see he earns the money."Chalk said that Woodcock, who retired in 2008, was hired back on a contract basis until the end of 2009 to give the board more time to conduct a search for a new president. Some of Woodcock's remuneration reflects his salary, vacation bank and retirement payout.

In 2007, there were 20 workers on the list from the hospital, while last year there were 28.City workers on the list doubled to 69 from 35.

Much of that is attributed to arbitration settlements for police officers and firefighters.In fact, it pays to be in law and order:There are 16 city police sergeants, inspectors and managers on the list and 28 employees with the fire department.Police Chief Derek McElveny earned $171,040, while his deputy chief, Jeff Kellner, brought in $159,375.At the fire department, fire chief Garth Dix earned $129,566, while his platoon chiefs made between $107,000 and $112,000.

Over at the courthouse, four provincial judges got a 15% boost with a raise to $264,368.Crown attorney Bob Kindon's income almost hit $200,000 last year, while the assistant Crown attorneys earned between $125,000 and $161,000.

Ten OPP workers are on the list -- almost the same number as last year but with few of the same people.Commander David Durant's $123,636 salary was surpassed by Const. Kevin York's $142,847.Much of the burgeoning list is due to salary increases at both local boards of education.With 33 principals joining the list for the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board, their list soared to 42 from eight..

"An increase in salaries caused people to exceed the $100,000 limit," said Wally Easton, association director for the Brant Haldimand-Norfolk Catholic District School Board.Easton said one thing that helped tip several salaries onto the list was that, through a quirk of the calendar, there were 27 pay packages in 2008 instead of the normal 26."The salary disclosure legislation is based on your T4 salary, not necessarily the annual salary that a person gets."The Grand Erie District School board's list also jumped substantially, to 86 from 31, welcoming 56 principals and vice-principals to the list.There was a substantial drop in the remuneration for the executive director of the Brant Children's Aid Society. Andrew Koster's salary was listed last year at $166,615 but dropped to $139,500.At Laurier Brantford, new president Max Blouw earned $362,093 compared to outgoing president Robert Rosehart's $366,711 the previous year and three local faculty members moved onto the list.Similarly, at Mohawk College, five faculty members moved onto the list.

With the establishment in Brantford of the health integration network for this area of Southern Ontario, five new positions were added to the list, including CEO Pat Mandy, earning $279,453.

At the Brantford casino, a new manager moved into place, but just three employees are on the list.

The full salary disclosure list -- which can be found at www.tinyurl.com/d494ez-- looks at all those substantially funded by the taxpayer, amounting to about a million workers.

1 comment:

When I was a teenager, my father told me: you either go to work or go to school. He said the magic words, I went to work. When I was quite young, he taught me to have a good work ethic in case I didn't turn out to be an academic. He told me to take the initiative, be ambitious and be responsible.

I imagine a lot of parents told their children the same thing: be successful, get ahead. Today, there are a lot of people making $100,000. Those people at a young age were probably told the same things I was. A lot of people making that $100,000 have an enormous responsibility that I wouldn't want. I've enjoyed the life I chose, I've always made an adequate amount of money.

I had a choice; quite possibly if I had gone to school, I would be part of the $100,000 club. It took hard work to get where a lot of these people are and I would like to say, most of these people are not predictors of the economy. I would like to say to them: make as much money as you desire but have a look in your rearview mirror once in a while and check on us people who just want to adequately get through this life.